Kabe no Shinobi
by Zenix404
Summary: He wakes up in a unknown forest, tired and unable to find civilization. In addition, there are dumb naked giants with no genitalia chasing him constantly. Damn, what the fuck is this place! NarutoxAttack On Titan crossover.
1. Chapter 1 export

**Spirited Away**

**Chapter 1: Lost**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Attack on Titan, Naruto or any of the characters.**

* * *

The ground was soft, and he could feel the sun beating down on his aching body. Blearily he opened his eyes, putting a hand over his face to provide some cover from the smoldering heat of the sun.

He was greeted with the sight of thick tree tops, the sweet summer breeze ruffling the leaves. The sight roused something within him, it looked somewhat familiar.

Slowly, he willed his body into an upright position, leaning on his hands for support.

"Ugh… where am I…?"

He inspected his state of clothing. His jacket was torn and tattered, pants torn off a bit at the ankles. Mud and grime was soaked into the back of his clothes, where he'd lain on the ground.

In the corner of his eyes, he caught movement near the bushes. _A deer_, he realized and a picture of a pineapple haired teen popped into his mind. _Is this close to the Nara compound?_

He rubbed the back of his head, wincing slighty at the dull throbbing pain.

He got up on his legs, eyeing his surroundings more carefully.

Cerulean blue eyes observed the forestry in silent fascination, enraptured by the beautiful sight of greenery. But what caught his attention was the size of the trees. They were humongous! Looming over him like giants, casting great shadows both far and wide.

Yet again, he felt a tingling sensation of familiarity at the sight before him. Then it hit him. The Forest of Death. That was where he'd seen the like before. This forest looked oddly similar to the one in the second stage of the chuunin exams. At the same time, the atmosphere was somewhat different.

Kneeling down onto his right knee, he placed his index and middle finger on the ground. The familiar feeling of warmth enveloping him as he started to build up his already depleted chakra reserves. He sent a miniscule amount through his arm and into the ground, warmth leaving as soon as the chakra left his body. Like a drop of water hitting the ocean's surface, a wave streaked through the terrain.

He raised a brow in mild surprise "Huh? That's weird"

The pulse of energy hadn't picked up any readings of people nearby, not even wildlife.

His gaze shifted towards where he'd seen the deer moments earlier. Its presence was still there, he could even see the outline of its form somewhat in the distance, napping at some berries growing in the shrubberies.

This was indeed strange. It was common knowledge that all living—breathing—creatures needed chakra to live. No matter how miniscule the amount; it was necessary.

He recounted what he knew about chakra. Each person's chakra was different and as such gave off a unique chakra signature. It was essentially like a fingerprint. He also knew that chakra signatures were passed on genetically, allowing one to identify people of the same clan. Absorbing DNA from various people could alter the composition of one's chakra signature, as mixing various signatures created a whole new one. But never had he heard of cases where chakra was completely absent.

He rubbed his forehead in exasperation. These thoughts were leading him nowhere and could wait until he got home. There were more important matters at hand.

Coating the soles of his feet with a shrill layer of chakra, he ran up one of the trees intending to get a better grasp of his current whereabouts.

Upon reaching the top, he peered out over the horizon, the expanse of the forestry going on for miles and miles around him with not a single village or sign of civilization nearby.

"Damn" He bit his lip in slight frustration.

This wasn't Konoha, not at all. He knew every the layout of Konoha and its surroundings like the back of his hand. He'd spent most of his young life running about the forests and exploring. But if this wansn't Konoha, then where the hell had he ended up?

He jumped down from his spot to land on the soft ground, while thinking about his current predicament.

One way would be to simply choose a direction and head that way until he met on someone. He would then ask for directions to Konoha and get the hell home.

He lifted his hand to his chin in silent contemplation. Was this the best option though? He'd been called out on his shortsightedness on numerous occasions, and it would often get him into trouble.

He shook his head and made up his mind.

* * *

A few hours of walking and he'd finally made it to the outskirts of the forest. He'd tried to run while channeling chakra, but for some reason his chakra reserves were unusually low. Deciding it would be best to let himself rest a bit, he'd settled for just walking.

What he'd found upon exiting the forest was quite disappointing. A few abandoned houses at the foot of the forest, and plain grassy fields as far as the eye could see.

Curiously enough, the houses seemed to have been abandoned in a rush. Broken glass strewn about on the ground, wood, broken and splintered, and for some reason, there were holes in the roof tops.

The architecture in itself was old. Outdated by Konoha standards. One would rarely see such structures in the elemental nations—mostly the poor regions.

It piqued his interest and he decided to approach a house.

Placing a gentle hand on the door, he pushed, the door creaking as it opened.

"Hello?" He said upon entering. "Anyone here?"

No reply came and he made his way through the through the corridor to examing the interior, while trying to not be too noisy.

Rubble from the broken rooftop lay scattered on the ground. Some tattered clothing, books, and toys. It was dusty, to say the least. Whatever had happened, had happened some time ago.

He studied what he believed to be the living room, sun peering down through the window, lighting the room in a yellowish hue. His eyes danced over every nook and cranny, taking in everything. Exploring a foreign place like some detective was thrilling to say the least.

His exploration came to a sudden halt however, when a glistening object caught his vision.

In the far end of the room, near one of the windows, there was a shelf. It looked to be on the verge of falling apart and on it sat a little frame, half lit by the sun and half overshadowed.

He picked it up, careful not to damage it.

The frame contained a drawing of a woman, and what was presumably her husband. She was pregnant by the looks of it, easily discernable by the bulging of her stomach. Most likely the ones who'd lived here.

"A drawing, huh? This place really is old" He stared at the picture for a second and placed it back.

* * *

He needed more information. He needed to know where exactly he was. What part of Fire country was he in now? Was he even in Fire country at all? And what was with this place, anyway? It gave off such a wierd ambiance.

_Thump!_

His thoughts cut off abruptly and body froze at the sudden noise reverberating through the ground; house shaking in the slightest and dust jumping from the motion. His spine went ramrod straight.

_Thump!_

The earth shook in a rhythmic fashion and his instincts as a shinobi took over. Something big was approaching, or at least very heavy by the sound of it. Couldn't be a human. Then what? Maybe a summon? No, couldn't be. He couldn't feel any chakra signatures outside. Wait, nothing had chakra here, anyways. Damn, what was he to do?

_Thump!_ It sounded yet again, louder this time.

_It's approaching me or at least coming my way_, he thought. He eyed his surroundings quickly. He couldn't stay in this house; it would limit his area of movement. He had to get out fast, before he got caged in.

_Thump!_

He dashed for the door, taking a few calming breaths and preparing for whatever was waiting for him outside.

3, 2, 1!

He slammed the door open, movement a blur as he strengthened his muscles with chakra.

…And promptly froze in his steps, his eyes wide in utter astonishment and jaw dropping at the implausible sight before him.

"What the fuck?!"

Some distance away stood what could only be described as a gruesome beast. Like something out of a horror story.

He eyed the creature in front of him. It had long lanky arms that reached down to its knees. The stomach was bulging outwards while the chest was skinny and disheveled, ribs pressing outwards enough to be visible.

It had an oversized head with black hair and sunken, beady eyes—zeroed in on his position. It's facial expression was contorted into a viscous snarl, baring a maw of yellowish teeth while saliva trickled down its chin.

The damn being was enormous, looking to be around eight or nine meters tall! But that wasn't the most surprising feature. No, the most surprising feature was that it looked so very human.

The earth cracked under its feet, footsteps thundering as it strode towards him.

"What the, —Who are you!" he yelled after regaining his senses, but it just continued while ignoring his question.

"O-oi! I asked you who you are! And what is this place!"

_Thump!_

It came to a stop a short distance ahead, looming over him with a cold gaze that never left his form.

"Hey! I asked you a question!"

The monster grunted and slowly raised one of its lanky arms in an awkward angle.

He tensed and eyes narrowed slightly. _Huh?_ what was it doing?

Suddenly, it swung the gangly arm in a wide arc heading straight for his position.

**SMASH! **The arm crashed into where he had been standing a moment ago. The collision destroyed the very earth, creating spiderweb-like cracks and throwing dust into the air, somewhat clouding the area.

He gaped at the crater situated where he'd stood previously with wide eyes.

"ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME!?" He raged, fist brought up in a threatening manner.

"RRAAHHH" it grunted and gurgled in disappointment, ogling its empty hand. The oversized head turning to look at him once more.

Raising another arm, it tried to pummel him again and again, while he dodged over and over, his ire rising with each attempt.

They was a sloppy attempt at hitting him, of course, movements slow and easily predictable. He was a trained shinobi. The act of reading the enemies every movement to anticipate their next course of action, had been a vital part of his training.

"OI! CUT THAT OUT!"

The giant continued his tireless assault.

"Last chance dipshit! Who are you and what is this place!"

…

…

"… AND WHY ARE YOU NAKED?!"

Seriously, what the fuck was wrong with this place? Dumb ass naked giants with no genitalia running around trying to crush him; had the world gone completely mad?!

When the naked giant ignored him in favor of playing whack-a-mole, he decided to get serious.

"Tch! You leave me no choice…" Placing his hands in a familiar cross hand-seal, he shouted. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

A clone puffed into existence and he placed one hand out with the palm facing upwards before the clone got to work.

The shadow clone technique was a forbidden jutsu created by the second Hokage. It allowed the user to create one or more copies of themselves. Unlike the illusions made by the clone jutsu, the shadow clones were physically real and possessed the same clothing, damage and transformations as the user upon creation. A replica was completely indistinguishable from the original, even to the prized doujutsus of the Hyuuga and Uchiha.

Chakra started swirling in his hand, coalescing into a blue ball of destructive energy and making the wind pick up around him.

Completely serious, he dashed forward while at the same time dodging another of the giant's futile attempts at striking him down.

"RASENGAN!" He roared and slammed his Jutsu into the beasts bulging stomach. The flesh ringing itself into an inwards vortex, flesh rupturing at the contact with raw concentrated energy and blood sprayed all over the clearing.

"GRRRaAHhh!" The monster screamed, stumbling backwards to land on its rear.

"You ready to talk now?" He queried smugly while landing on the soft, red stained ground.

Abruptly, steam started pouring out of the wound and light in all the various colors pooled around the flesh, slowly recreating lost tissue at a rapid pace.

His smug smile dropped into a scowl. "… you have to be shitting me; it can fucking regenerate?!"

"Ok, then, we'll have to do it another way" He turned to his clone. "Get some paper tags, we're going for its legs" The clone nodded and reached into the holster on his back.

_If you can't defeat it; immobilize it. _

The lumbering form tried to get up, but he was faster. He rushed at great speeds and applied the paper tags to the Achilles tendons—the largest and strongest tendon in the body. Focusing the tough band of fibrous tissue connecting the calf muscles to the heel bone would leave the humanoid beast incapable of moving. Despite its strength, the Achilles tendon was extremely vulnerable.

_Katsu!_

**Boom!**

Flesh and blood exploded outwards in a hail of gore, blood staining the grass a crimson red. Some splotches of blood hit his clothes and he wiped it off in mild disgust.

"Graarrhh!" came to consequent blood curdling scream. Now, with no feet to stand on, the creature fell to the ground. The impact sending tremors through the landscape.

However, there seemed to be more to it than just plain regeneration—the stumps where the feet had once been connected to the legs, were re-growing at an alarming rate.

He growled. What the hell was he supposed to do. Rasengan wasn't enough to pierce the giant's thick skin, and even if he pierced it, the wound would just regenerate—even lost limbs!

And what was up with this regeneration anyways. It couldn't have been a Jutsu, the thing hadn't used any hand signs, nor had there been any signs of chakra build up.

_Ok, I didn't want to have to do this, but I've got no choice. Gotta go for the head next._

The clone got to work again, creating another rasengan. Once again he charged the downed form of the giant, whom was struggling to crawl after its prey due to its still regenerating ligaments. He thrust his rasengan into right between the eyes with a furious grunt.

The giant gurgled and screamed. Blood oozing from its shredded face.

But to his dismay, steam started billowing out from the wound.

Damn it all! This was like Kabuto all over again!

_Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!_

His ears twitched to the sound of more footsteps and his head whipped around to be greeted by another giant—This one 12-13 meters by the looks of it.

"Great, just my luck…" He muttered in annoyance.

This just wouldn't go. He couldn't keep wasting chakra fighting these things. He needed to know their weakness to kill them off or find a way to immobilize them permanently, else whatever he did would be pointless.

Decision made, he barreled for the forest he'd been in earlier. He could lose them there, or deal with them some other way if the need came. Either way, it was the best option for now.

* * *

**AN: Hello!**

**So, this is my second fanfiction, and one that I'm very excited about writing. I've been itching to write a Naruto-AttackOnTitan crossover for some time now, and this is it. **

**Though, a bit short, I've put in a lot of thought and effort in writing it, so I sincerely hope you enjoy it. Also, please leave a review to let me know what you thought of it and what I might improve on :)**

**~Zenix404~**


	2. Chapter 2

**Spirited Away**

**Chapter 2: Wings of Freedom**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto, Attack on Titan, or any of the characters.**

* * *

**Q&A:**

_**MM995:**__I'm glad you found this story interesting buddy. Don't worry, this won't be one of those fic's where they have to channel chakra into their muscles to have advanced strength and durability. As for what period this Naruto is from… that's a secret ;) _

_Also, thank you for pointing out those grammatical errors with the periods and commas. I'll try fixing them in this fic and the other one. Thank you for your review._

_**Guest:**__ Well, I haven't really seen anyone get torn up the way u describe it in Naruto when hit by a Rasengan. Rasengan isn't really a piercing attack to begin with, it's more like a blunt twisting blow to the gut, much like Luffy's 'Gomu Gomu No Rifle' attack in One Piece. _

_Also, I think it would be pretty boring if Narutos normal Rasengan could blow titans to pieces left and right. _

_**Guest: **__Don't worry, this won't be a harem fic. I currently have 2/3 girls in mind that he could possibly have a relationship with, but he'll only be together with one, if it happens at all._

_**Hmm:**__ Yeah, didn't really think that one through. I did go back and change that though, so I hope it's a bit more realistic now._

_** .jker: **__You'll just have to wait and see, mate._

_**Mahouka9: **__The thing about Mikasa being a love interest, is that she is so fanatically devoted to Eren, that it's practically impossible to sway her any other direction. That's not to say that she is completely out of the question, though._

_**Weeldx: **__I'm glad you enjoyed it bro. I too like Annie a lot as a character, and you never know, she might just catch Narutos eye. As for the timeline, you'll just have to keep up with the story and find out for yourself ;)_

* * *

*Sigh*

He rubbed his face tiredly.

It had been a few days since he'd appeared in this peculiar land and they'd gone by agonizingly slow.

During his time in this strange place he had made some fascinating discoveries.

The first thing he'd noticed was that the atmosphere did not produce or contain the same level of nature chakra to what he was used to back home.

Usually, it would only take a few minutes for him to enter his sage mode, it used to be a relatively fast process. However, when he'd tried entering sage mode, it had taken him well over ten minutes to gather the necessary amount.

The next thing he had discovered was that the hulking humanoid creatures that persistently chased him wherever he went, first of all, didn't actually need to feed off anything to survive. This was made abundantly clear by how they left other wildlife undisturbed. He hadn't actually seen any of the giants consume anything at all since he'd arrived.

Quite unexpectedly, they appeared to get their sustenance from daylight. This fact proven by how they're drawn into deep slumber at night. He'd poked some of the giants when they were asleep to check their awareness, only to realize that even when he went as far as to cut some of their flesh, they remained entirely unresponsive.

He'd briefly wondered if it was something akin to photosynthesis. A process used by plants, algae and certain bacteria to harness energy from sunlight and turn it into chemical energy, which is then released to fuel the organisms' activities.

But then, if they could live off of energy harnessed from sunlight, why would they be so desperate to devour him?

They didn't have any genitalia, meaning they couldn't reproduce in the same manners as humans. That begged the question of how they came to be in the first place. Were they some kind of experiment gone wrong? The titanic beings didn't even defecate from what he'd observed. Wouldn't they just bloat up if they consumed too much and throw it all up?

They had no intelligence to speak of either and his attempts at communicating had yielded no results.

On that note, communication with one particularly nasty fox had been completely impossible. He would often try to meditate in order to enter his mindscape, but it was as if something was blocking him from reaching it.

It was pretty sad actually. Talking to someone would have been kind of nice, even if the fox was one rude bastard.

* * *

Light from the scorching flames of his campfire illuminated the small clearing he currently found himself laying in. Some venison cooked over the heat of the blazes and he lay next to it on the soft grass, peering up at the star lit night sky.

He could make out the outline of a body sitting next to one of the trees some distance away. It sat quietly, not making a single sound, eyes shut and body totally unmoving. He would've thought it to be lifeless had he not seen it move just a couple hours ago when the sun still towered overhead.

He found himself unable to sleep from unease and was just mulling over the events from the past couple of days.

After arriving in this unknown land, he had decided to do some scouting.

On the first day, he had explored the forest and tried gathering some information on the giants, how to deal with them and if they had any weaknesses that could be used against them.

His initial idea of just going one direction until he found people had had no results. The only thing he'd gotten from that experience was the knowledge that the giants didn't have any limit to their stamina. They would literally chase him endlessly without tiring.

There weren't any points of elevation nearby either to keep out of reach and rest, so he'd chosen to use the forest as a resting place.

The next two days he'd made shadow clones to do his scouting for him, seeing as it was the original purpose of the Jutsu.

He himself had remained in the forest. Gathering supplies, working on some wind nature manipulation exercises and some of his jutsu.

For the nature manipulation, he'd gone with attempting to cut through thin tree branches with his chakra. He wasn't knowledgeable on the topic of nature manipulation like say Kakashi, but he figured since it was the only resource he had in abundance, and having finished the leaf cutting exercise long ago, that it wouldn't hurt to try it this way. If nothing else, it would strengthen his wind chakra.

After all, he was a chakra monster and would never really have the finer chakra control needed for smaller jutsu, Jiraya had made that clear to him. All his jutsu were very chakra-intensive and focused on doing a lot of damage.

Thinking back to the two-year training trip with Jiraya, it had been hellish.

Jiraya, despite his perverted tendencies and fooling around, was an outstanding shinobi. His specializations being infiltration and information gathering, alongside his vast array of ninjutsu and knowledge of the sealing arts, had earned him the title of Legendary Sannin, and he wasn't considered the strongest of the Sannin for nothing.

In those two years, the pervert had beaten in every single piece of useful information into his students' thick skull in order to give him the ability to stand toe to toe with any of the Akatsuki.

Ninjutsu had come to him naturally and he'd even learned some useful assassination jutsu, Fūinjutsu, however, was a big failure.

Jiraya, for all his efforts, might as well have been trying to teach a pig how to fly. Sitting still, practicing calligraphy, and understanding complex symbols and their meanings just wasn't his thing. The extent of his skill in sealing went only as far as making explosive notes and small storage scrolls, which were the most basic of sealing techniques.

But all of these thoughts weren't what was keeping him up this starry night, unable to sleep.

No, the thing that had him restless was the influx of information he'd received earlier when one of the clones sent scouting had dispelled.

At first, the clone had seen something weird in the far distance. It looked like one long sandy line marring the horizon, but after moving in closer, it was discovered to be a wall.

Now, that in itself wouldn't have been such a reason to worry, however, this wall was fucking 50 meters tall! And that wasn't all. Even more amazing, was the fact that it seemed to be moving on endlessly. He literally couldn't see an end to it!

What exactly was this wall built for?

This was where the cause of his worry lay.

The wall was massive in height, extensively long, and monstrously thick. In addition, it most likely went full circle by how it curved when he looked to each side. This wall had to have been built to either keep something in, or something else out.

The only reason the wall had to be so titanic would have to be because it was meant to limit a threat that was big to begin with.

The only true threat here were the giants…

Even if they were of no real threat to him, nor any shinobi for that matter, they would surely be a threat to civilians who had no means of protecting themselves.

Here was where the dilemma came. He had seen houses on the inside, meaning that there had once been people living on the inside, and that by default meant that the wall was meant to keep the giants outside.

So, then why the fuck were they on the inside?!

How?! How could to those hair-brained creatures with not a single intelligent thought, nor any chakra whatsoever, have managed to get past the wall?!

There was absolutely no way that they had broken through by force and climbing was also out of question, so how?

Did that mean that the people living here had been eaten?

The mere thought sent a chill down his spine.

Were there any survivors left?

If these giants could get past such a wall, then he couldn't see what else there could be that could stop them.

If his guess was correct and the wall went full circle, then people would most likely flee inwards.

He shivered as a particularly cold breeze passed by.

Tomorrow.

Tomorrow he would go check on it himself, if there were any survivors, then he would find them.

He would get to the bottom of this.

* * *

[Next Day]

He was currently packing his stuff, getting ready for the journey inwards in search for survivors.

Being able to survive in the open with nothing but what you found on your body was something all shinobi learned as early as in the academy.

The training trip with Jiraya had taught him much. They'd traveled all around the Elemental Nations during their training trip, and experienced all the different climates and terrains possible.

The scorching deserts of Suna, the vast mountain ranges of Kumo, the Canyons in Iwa, the swamps and islands in Mizu, the rain forests in Taki, the frozen wastelands of Yuki and Tetsu no Kuni. He'd endured them all.

And so, surviving in a forest with plenty of wildlife and nice weather, much like in Fire country, had been no problem.

He sealed the last of his supplies into a storage scroll and put it back into his pouch.

Leaping from branch to branch, he bounded through the forest until he reached the outskirts.

A quite mumble of 'Kage Bunshin No Jutsu' had a dozen clones materialize around him. Already knowing their objectives, they set out in different directions.

* * *

[With one of the clones]

He had set out in the opposite direction of the original and finally made it to the other end of the forest.

"Stupid boss" He grumbled irritated. Why couldn't he just have made the clones at camp and then let them head out. It would've saved them all a good amount of time. This forest was huge for god sake! But no, the idiot just had to be stupid.

His gaze flickered down below where two titans were greedily clawing at the bark of the tree he stood on.

Their eyes were trained on him. Maws gaping and drool dribbling down their chins, just waiting for him to make a mistake. Waiting for him to stumble down right into their gnashing teeth.

He scoffed.

Too bad. He wouldn't be falling down any time soon, nor would they get what they wanted even if they managed to get ahold of him. For he was but a simple shadow.

His gaze drifted ahead again and he was about to get moving, when something caught his eye in the distance.

It looked like red columns rising into the sky.

He squinted his eyes, not sure if what he was seeing was real, or if the heat was just getting to him.

Unexpectedly, another column shot into the sky. This one however, was closer.

'_What the… Is that green smoke?'_

*Grunt*

His eyes flickered down below again, to the giants that had now stopped their futile attempts at getting to him.

They were frozen for a second before they slowly turned their heads around to face the rising smoke far ahead.

They stood still for a second and he stared at them in bewilderment.

Something had caught their attention. He hadn't seen them react like this at all until now. What the hell was happening?

Letting out low gurgles and growls both the 6 meter and 11-meter giants set out, leaving a stunned blonde behind.

He blinked owlishly, unsure of what to do, but his shock didn't last long. Because as soon as he was about to follow after them out of pure curiosity, he noticed something else enter his field of vision, coming from behind the hill that the smoke had risen from.

A… Horse…

A horse, with what looked like a person riding it…

He stared, gaze unwavering, as if the man would disappear if he as much as blinked.

Another moment, and suddenly the clearing was filled with them. His stare never faltered as his heart pounded. Happiness and relief forming in his gut at the sight.

They wore white pants and shirts, brown jackets over their shirt which exposed their midriffs, kind of like Sai's attire, and were those thigh high boots? What…?

To top it all off, they wore green capes that came down to their waist.

Also, they seemed to have some kind of metal-like constructs hanging at their hips.

The one he assumed to be the leader, because he was riding ahead of the others, brought his hand to the metal construct and pulled out a blade.

Was that what those metal thingies were? Sheaths? Who needed such thick and heavy looking sheaths?

Raising the blade overhead, the man yelled something to his followers.

The distance between them was too great to make it comprehensible, but as soon as the man shouted, two others shot right past him… and barreled straight ahead towards the two incoming giants.

He twitched.

He was tempted to jump in and help, however a more rational part of his mind urged him to observe these newcomers. Gleam as much information as possible before approaching unknown entities.

His azure eyes beheld the confrontation with rapt attention.

The two men, one raven haired and the other blonde, jumped up on their horses, now standing straight while maintaining balance on top of their moving mounts.

Some weird swishing noises and the sound of air pressure being released, and suddenly the two men were flying across the field towards each their giant at impressive speeds.

This just sowed further confusion with him. What good would those blades do against the giants? They would just regenerate anyways.

His eyes widened however, when both cut through a sizable portion of the giants' necks, and they fell to the ground unmoving.

"…The fuck" He said staring with wide eyes and posture gone rigid.

And as if the wind had carried his confused whisper, the raven-haired soldier looked up, and he could've sworn he heard the man echo his words.

* * *

**AN: Sorry for the long wait guys! I have been pretty busy with work this summer, so I haven't had much time to write. Also, it had been an even longer time since I had updated my other story, so there was that too.**

**It seems like you guys enjoyed the first chapter, and I hope you enjoy this one too. Thank you to everyone who has favorited and followed, it means a lot. The comments were also very helpful and i appriciate them very much.**

**Until next time :)**

**~Zenix404~ Please Review~**


	3. Chapter 3: Meeting the unknown

**Kabe no Shinobi**

**Chapter 3: Meeting the unknown.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Attack on Titan, or any of their characters.**

**Edit: June 25, 2020:**

**I thought about the storyline for a moment and how i wished for it to proceed forwards and decided to go with another route for the meeting between Naruto and the Survey Corps. I think a languge barrier will serve the story better in the long run, also making my plans for the next few chapters more authentic. Leave a review on what you think of it or send a PM. Hope you like it.**

* * *

**[Levi POV]**

The past few days had been busy. Erwin had convinced Darius Zackly, the general of the three military branches, to allow another expedition beyond the walls. The final preparations for the expedition had been finished yesterday, and they'd be moving out in just a few moments.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he could clearly see Hange talking to Moblit, most likely explaining another of her wild theories about titans. Moblit seemed to be doing his best to keep up with her and failing miserably, judging by the utterly confused expression on his face.

Honestly, he couldn't fathom how that man was able to withstand her presence. Just the thought of having to put up with her antics every day sent a shiver down his spine. And the way she would start drooling at the mention of titans was simply disgusting.

Hange seemed to take notice of him and abandoning her previous, rather one-sided conversation, made her way towards him.

"Yo, Levi! How've you been! Ready for the expedition?"

He heaved a sigh. "Hange." He nodded in acknowledgement. "Good, and ready as can be."

"Aa, I can't wait to observe them, Levi. Maybe we'll even get to see some abnormal ones." As she started getting starry-eyed and salivating at the lips, rambling about the usual, he tuned her out and let his thoughts wander to the three years since the breach of wall Maria.

The walls that had kept humanity safe for a hundred years had fallen for the first time and titans had invaded the outermost circle of the walls. In the time that it had taken for the military to evacuate the people of Maria, the death toll had reached a staggering ten thousand.

In the aftermath, the military police had been stationed at refugee camps to keep the king's peace and distribute food amongst the people in need. On the other hand, a collaborative effort between the garrison and the survey corps had seen them organizing wide scale retrieval missions in order to recover as much food and other resources, as fast as possible before the titans were able to reach the other end of wall Maria.

However, even with the success of many retrieval operations, a food shortage was unavoidable. So, in the following year of 846, The Royal Government sent a multitude of refugees on a mission in the name of retaking wall Maria. 250,000 were sent, nearly a fifth of the population.

With only 200 survivors, the operation had been a complete massacre and on the bloodied battlefield, only the titans had remained standing.

Levi scoffed mentally. The Government could call it whatever they wanted, yet the fact remained that it had been a suicide mission. There was no way that simple civilians, unarmed and on foot, could ever hope to kill even one of those beasts. Though it had gone unspoken, the truth was there for everyone to see.

With grim resignation, they had marched off to their deaths. And although it wasn't much, their sacrifices did improve the food shortage situation for the rest of the population, even if just a little.

* * *

With a third of their territory lost and a fifth of the population devoured, humanity had yet again been reminded of what a cruel world they lived in.

The reality of their situation had dawned on them rapidly. The fear amongst the people had been palpable, and terrified of another catastrophe, the military branches had had the proverbial fire lit under their asses.

Better cannons were installed atop the walls. Deep trenches, enough to trap several titans had been dug around all the gates. The outdated evacuation plans had been revised after seeing how inefficient they had been when put into practice.

Moreover, at the recommendation of Dot Pixis, Chief Official of the Southern Territories, it had been decided to establish an emergency food bank in case of another breach and avoid another "mission to reclaim wall rose".

In addition, the age of recruitment for the military had been lowered from fifteen to twelve, in order to bolster the ranks and the number of recruits had reached an all-time high.

"Attention soldiers!"

Before he could dwell anymore on the past, the sound of Commander Erwin's piercing voice cut through the clearing, bringing him out of his musing. Erwin was dressed in the standard survey corps uniform, seated upon his white horse. Determination burned in his azure eyes, his gaze flickering over to where Levi was standing for a brief moment before addressing the soldiers in attendance.

"Today we proceed with the 36th expedition beyond the walls. I will now give a brief rundown of the operation." Concise and to the point as always, the steel in his voice had the soldiers listening intently.

"Today will mark the first operation since the breach, dedicated to setting up supply points in the lost territory of wall Maria. Our objective is the forest of giant trees located approximately 90 kilometres south from our starting point in Karanese district. The duration of this mission will be three-days. One day of riding towards the forest, one to set up the supply stations and let the horses rest, and one day to return."

Long term missions such as this were a rarity. In all his time as a scout, he'd only been on three of them. They were rarely organized because they came with too many risks. Much of the land outside the walls was uncharted, and very few "forests of giant trees" such as the ones inside the walls had been discovered. The ones found also located far in-between.

Nor did the survey corps have as many soldiers as they once used to. Too many expeditions came back with no real results and too high a casualty rate to inspire the people to join.

"You've all been informed as to your positions in the new long-range scouting formation as well as the workings of the new flare-signal system. It is vital that communication is upheld at all costs. Lapse in communication could result in the collapse of our formation. We will engage formation immediately upon exit and as we enclose on the forest, we will disengage the formation, at which point everyone will start moving inwards, towards the centre. If you have any questions, then you may address them to your squad leaders. We will depart in only a few minutes, so have everything in order… That will be all."

Giving the soldier ample time to digest the new influx of information, Levi watched as Erwin made his way towards him.

"Levi, is your squad ready?" He asked.

"Aa"

Unblinkingly Erwin continued. "Good, your squad will be spearheading this formation. Since those in the front are ahead of myself, they will most likely engage titans before being able to receive a response."

Meaning that his squad would be the one in the most danger. Encountering titans would be inevitable and survival would depend solely on their own skill. Still, he just nodded with his usual impassive look.

"Mike will be stationed with myself, as a contingency plan of sort. If titans manage to break our formation, he'll be able to relay it before they can get too far in."

"...and Hange?"

"She'll be riding in the rear-guard, guarding the supply carts and leading most of the recruits."

"I see." As expected of Erwin, everything had been planned meticulously. His piece said, Erwin turned and mounted his horse, riding his stallion to the gate.

Knowing Erwin was going to announce the start of the operation, he mounted his own horse, and rode it to where his own squad was waiting patiently.

"Thirty seconds until we open the gates!" One of the garrison gate guards announced, his words ceasing all chattering and making everyone snap to attention.

"With this, humanity will take its first step towards reclaiming wall Maria! Show me what you can do!" One of the veteran soldiers yelled and eliciting a collective cheer from the men.

"Opening the gate!"

The tell-tale sound of cogs turning, and chains being strained sounded throughout the streets. Slowly, the gate started rising, earth and grime peeling off the thick brick spikes that adorned the underside of the gate.

"ADVANCE!"

Erwin commanded.

"We will now begin the 36th expedition beyond the walls! Onward!"

* * *

**[Hours later, closing in on the forest of giant trees]**

It had been a gruelling day of hard riding. His legs and backside were sore, and his hands were chafed from gripping the reins. The flare signalling the disengagement of the formation had been spotted in the sky just a while ago, so his squad had slowed down to let the others catch up and regroup before entering the forest. At the moment, he rode in the front alongside Mike and Erwin.

He could see the faint outline of the forest in the distance, growing increasingly more visible as they trotted on.

*Sniff*

"Erwin, two titans, up ahead." Mike said, eyes narrowing.

Erwin nodded and after barely a second of thought, gave his response. "Levi, you and Mike dispatch of them." He drew one of his blades and in a shout, addressed the rest of the men. "We're soon to reach our destination! Upon entering the forest, start scouring for any titans that may linger nearby."

"Yes, sir!" The soldiers replied.

Levi nodded to Mike, increasing their pace to get ahead of the others. He could see the titans that Mike had mentioned at the foot of a big tree. Curiously enough, they were clawing at it as if trying to climb them and didn't seem to have noticed the survey corps yet.

_Tch, those bastards better not be learning how to climb. _They were difficult enough to deal as it was.

Finally taking notice of the incoming humans, the two titans turned around and promptly ran towards their targets, saliva dripping from gaping maws and limbs flailing in a mad dash to eat their prey.

"I'll take the big one." Mike intoned in his usual gruff voice and both hopped on top of their horses, balancing themselves with the practiced ease of veteran soldiers.

His cape fluttered in the wind and he unsheathed his blades. The metal was cool and when he pressed the handles of his 3D manoeuvre gear, he was met with the metallic whirring of his equipment. His hooks shot forwards, embedding themselves deeply into the shoulder of what looked to be a seven-meter titan.

The titan lifted its arm, ready to strike down on his form before he shot past its face and around the neck. With a grunt, he sunk his blades into the titans' flesh, cutting out its nape in what even Shadis would deem a prefect slash, and the titan collapsed to the ground steaming and throwing up a cloud of dust.

Another loud impact was heard, and he knew Mike was done with his as well.

He looked around to make sure there were no other dangers in the vicinity. One could never be too careful in this kind of environment.

Scanning his surroundings, his eyes landed on the forest. It's enormous trees seemingly piercing the sky.

Suddenly, he noticed something strange. On the branch of the tree where the titans had previously stood, he could see a- a figure. He squinted his eyes in concentration. It couldn't be a titan, it was too small for that. Nor would it be able to get that high up in the first place. When the dust cloud cleared a bit, the outline of the figure became more defined.

No, that was definitely no titan. It… it looked vaguely human, no scratch that, it was definitely a someone.

He froze when the implications of that statement hit and realization struck him like a bolt of lightning.

That was a human... outside the walls. In territory that humans had not inhabited for over three years.

A flicker of hope lit in the pit of his stomach.

What if that was someone not from within the walls? He knew the chances of such a thing being true was incredibly slim, yet he wished for it to be true. For that to be another survivor of humanity, for it to be proof that there existed humans outside the walls. That they were not the last of the human race.

It would mean that the Survey Corps had managed to fulfil one of its founding goals and the prospect seemed actually within their grasp for once.

But a more cynical part of his mind provided him with the more plausible options.

Could it be a survivor from the breach? No, that just wasn't possible. No civilian would be able to survive in a titan infested area without 3DMG. A soldier then? Maybe someone left behind on one of our previous missions? It was unlikely, but if they used their gas sparingly, then perhaps...

"Hm, oi, Levi, what are you doing? You can't freeze out here, its dang- "

*Sniff*

In the periphery of his vision he could see Mike adopt a confused expression, seemingly having smelled something odd and turning towards where Levi himself was looking.

He could hear the march of hoofbeats approach them and a voice speak- Erwin's voice.

"Levi, Mike, get on your horses! Now!"

He snapped awake from his frozen state and swivelled around to meet the commanders focused and slightly confused eyes.

"Erwin, look." He pointed ahead and Erwin's eyes followed to where he was pointing, and his eyes narrowed in concentration, trying to make out something, before widening in astonishment.

The figure crouched down. Maybe he was going to climb down? Yet not a second later, the person jumped down from his perch. He startled and his eyes widened. Was he fucking suicidal?! That's a fucking 30 metre drop!

He grit his teeth and his body twitched with the urge to make a attempt to help, but he knew there was nothing he could do, the distance between them was far too great.

No screams of agony or yells of anguish and suffering came, and he felt as if the world had truly turned on its head when the impossible happened and the person landed on the ground completely uninjured, and went on to make his way towards them.

They exchanged another set of shocked looks.

Just then, a titan appeared out of the woodwork, towering at a height of fourteen metres.

*Gasp*

"Holy shit, there's a person there!" one of the soldiers took notice of the anomaly ahead of them, which promptly made the others erupt into pandemonium.

"By the walls!"

"I-impossible…"

"O-oi, there's a titan chasing him. We need to help him!"

Before anyone could even move, the figure took a quick peek behind him, before crouching down and to everyone's bewilderment, leaping up to inhuman heights, and somehow sticking to the side of a fucking tree.

"what the fuck…" Levi muttered, eyes wide and jaw unhinged. The others no doubt mirroring his surprise.

Quick as a flash the person pushed off the tree, splintering the wood, and flew at the titan at speeds surpassing even the 3DMG.

Not a second later, the titan's nape exploded in a shower of blood and gore and it crashed to the ground, upturning the earth in its wake. It was brief, but he could've sworn he saw something blue, seeming almost ethereal, in the persons hand right before the titan fell…

The soldiers wore stunned looks, and at this point Levi couldn't fault them. He was pretty sure even his own face was the picture of bewilderment. He glanced at Erwin, only to see a disturbing grin on his face. He appeared to be lost in some kind of memory. **[1]**

The person, his visage identifiable as that of a male, was coming in close. "Oi, Erwin, what are your orders."

Erwin blinked and his demeanour was yet again that of the infallible survey corps commander. "Mike, get Hange and lead the soldiers into the forest, we've been standing around in the open for too long. Establish a perimeter afterwards. Levi, with me."

Mike took off hurriedly alongside the baffled soldiers and Levi rode with Erwin to meet the newcomer.

* * *

The first thing he took notice of was the fact that it wasn't a soldier, not even an adult. In front of him stood what he presumed to be a fifteen-year-old.

His clothes consisted of a dirtied black and orange jumpsuit. It was torn in multiple places, and from the gaps he could see that he had some kind of see-through chain vest underneath. His features were certainly memorable. The kid had hair a shade of blond he'd never witnessed before, looking almost golden when hit by rays of sunlight. His eyes were blue like the sky and reflected unbridled happiness, matched by an equally ecstatic grin.

Erwin was the first to speak.

"I am commander Erwin Smith of the scouting legion and this is corporal Levi Ackermann."

The youth blinked and his smile melted off.

"Are you by yourself? How did you come to be outside the walls?" Erwins' tone was demanding and serious, laced with a healthy amount of suspicion and apprehension.

The boy startled at the sudden questions. He opened his mouth to speak but hesitated before the words could leave his mouth.

"Oi, brat. He asked you a question. We don't have the time to be standing around in the open." Levi barked, a bit more harshly than was strictly necessary.

The kid tensed then and suddenly the image of a harmless teenage boy dissipated, something entirely different taking its place. Levi could see things that he'd overlooked in his first impression. Though he didn't look like much at first glance, the kid filled out his clothes surprisingly well for someone his age, evident by the fabric straining taut against his arms or legs whenever the kid moved ever so slightly.

The boy shifted slightly, almost imperceptible, but Levi noticed nonetheless. Although minor, his stance was now more guarded and poised to move at a moment's notice but disguised so the average person would mistake it for laxness. No- this wasn't some ordinary kid, his actions just moments ago made that abundantly clear. This even if not a soldier, was someone dangerous. Also, there were no signs of machinery or otherwise gear that could help him in his fights against titans. Meaning that all his earlier feats were purely natural ability. Just the thought of such raw power made him unnerved beyond measure.

Levi tensed and he knew Erwin must've observed the same as himself. He could feel his fingers twitch, ready to reach for a blade if necessary. The kid was awfully observant as well, judging by the way his eyes shifted to their manoeuvre gear every so often.

"…W-Wakarimasen"

.

.

.

"… Huh?" Levi stared at the boy, unable to believe the words that had come out of his mouth seconds earlier.

"Nani-o Itteru no ka wakaranai."

Levi's eyes widened and Erwin's eyebrows rose into his hairline. He couldn't understand a word of what the kid was saying. It just sounded like unintelligible gibberish.

That same fire from earlier re-lit inside him, now stronger than ever. That cemented the fact that this kid had to be from outside the walls. No such language or dialect existed within the walls. And abilities such as the kid had displayed in his earlier stunt with the titan had never been seen inside the walls either.

"Erwin." He spoke. "Do you understand what he's saying?"

"No, I've never heard anything even remotely close to it." The commander replied.

"What should we do?"

Erwin gaze bore into the teenager facing them. "We can discuss that in the safety of the forest."

He addressed the teen. "My name is Erwin." He said gesturing to himself and then pointed to the steaming titan and the forest. "Go to forest. It is safer."

The brat seemed to get the gist of it and his countenance regressed to a more laid-back state.

"Ā, wakarimashita, mori ni tsureteitte hoshīdesu yo ne?" The kid said bringing his fist down on his palm, face lighting up in what he assumed to be understanding.

"Do you think he understood that Erwin?"

"Let's hope." Erwin replied and motioned for the kid to follow.

The brat seemed to think on it for a second "Sokode aimashou, ne?" He then gestured to himself and them, before pointing to the forest and finally bringing his hands together in some weird gesture.

Thinking he was wording his doubts about understanding correctly, Levi sought to assure the kid. "Yes, brat, we're going to the forest. Now hurry, we haven't got all d-"

*POOF*

.

.

The place where the kid had previously stood exploded into a cloud of smoke, stunning both of them momentarily.

The sudden burst of smoke sending a shock of panic through their veins. They unsheathed their blades before anyone could as much as blink, awaiting whatever dangers might befall them.

"You little shit, what do you think you're doing?!" Levi exclaimed, blood roaring in his veins and heart beating a mile a minute. However, no reply came and slowly the smoke dissipated, leaving only two extremely rattled and on-edge soldiers.

They looked around in equal parts puzzlement and incredulity. "The fuck? Where'd he go?!"

* * *

**[1]: Erwin being seemingly lost in a memory is referring to his and his fathers theory of there being people outside the walls. Its basically the same reaction he had when Hange and Connie told him about the possibility of titans having been human at some point.**

**AN:**

**Finally, after all this time, I have returned with a new chapter. Apologies for the long wait, but university just takes too much time out of the day for me to be able to write anything. However, now that summer break has come around, I'll do my best to upload as much as possible. **

**This story has reached over a 100 follows and favourites, and over 5000 views. Thank you to everyone for your support. To all the reviewers, thank you so much for your comments, reading the positive feedback makes writing this that much more worthwhile. **

**Again, thank you all and please favourite, follow, and leave a review.**

**~Zenix_404~**


	4. AN: Status and updates

**AN: Status and updates**

* * *

**So, after reading some reviews and deliberating upon the fic, I've decided to take a different approach for this story. **

**I decided to integrate a language barrier, that I think will make this story much more interesting. From Naruto's perspective, the attack on titan characters will be speaking German, whilst Naruto himself will be speaking Japanese.**

**However, don't worry, you won't have to put up with it for too long. As the story progresses, Naruto will learn to converse with the others. **

**I've already edited chapter three, so you should go reread it if you haven't. Personally, I think it's better this way. **

**Now, as for the updates, they might be slow, but I'll try my best to post as often as possible. Also, I have another fic that that has become pretty popular as of late and hasn't been updated in a while, so I'll be working on that as well.**

**The amount of favourites and follows has already doubled in the short time since I posted chapter three, which is amazing. There has been little to none negative feedback, and I hope I can keep it that way.**

* * *

**~Zenix404~**


	5. The Special Operations Squad

**Kabe no Shinobi**

**Chapter 4: The Special Operations Squad**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto, Attack on Titan, or any of their characters.**

* * *

**[14.09.2020 - Edit: Fixed some grammar mistakes."**

* * *

**[Naruto POV]**

He was standing atop the roof of a small house, gazing out at the vast plains of this unknown place. It was an amazing sight to behold. Lush grass as far as the eye could see dominated the field, illuminated in red fire by the waning light of the sun as it dipped towards the western horizon.

The light warmth of the setting sun enveloped him, a gentle breeze ruffled his hair and he closed his eyes briefly, breathing in a lungful of fresh air.

Suddenly a wave of memories washed over him, disturbing his moment peace.

A legion of mounted soldiers. Titan bodies hitting the ground. A tall blond man, most likely the leader, and a short raven-haired man. An agreement to meet in the forest of massive trees.

Feeling conflicted, he ticked off what he knew. On the one hand, he'd finally found the people that he'd been looking for these past days and it had filled him with relief. However, that fleeting sense of relief had been washed away like a leaf in the wind the moment they'd opened their mouths.

What was that aggressive sounding language that they had spoken? With all those 'sch' sounds, it had kind of sounded like the static noise you'd get from faulty communication devices. He hadn't been able to gleam a single word from his brief conversation with the two, except that the blond, tall one was named 'Eruwin', while the short, grumpy looking one was 'Revi'.

In all his time traveling with Jiraya, he'd never heard any language remotely like it. Actually, now that he thought about it, he'd never even heard of anyone speaking any other language besides the common tongue.

He felt his heart steadily sinking into his stomach as a worrying thought struck him. _What if I'm not IN the elemental nations?_

The world outside of the elemental nations remained a mystery. No one had ever found anything besides endless ocean. If there were other continents besides the elemental nations, then it wasn't too farfetched to assume that they'd speak a different language.

But that didn't explain the absence of chakra. He hadn't detected any chakra from those people, not even the most miniscule amount- how could that be?! It made no sense. It was a fundamental fact of the world that all living, breathing, creatures had both spiritual and physical energy that together made chakra, though only individuals trained in the arts could harvest it.

And secondly, how did one end up on the other side of the world without even realizing?

Could this be the work of some space-time ninjutsu?

He knew that Kakashi had a space-time jutsu related to his Mangekyo Sharingan that allowed him to transport things to another dimens-

He's thought process came to an abrupt halt.

_No. _

A pit formed in his stomach.

_No, no, no. It couldn't be, could it?_

_._

_._

_Could this be some alternate dimension? Another world entirely?_

Those odd giants and the people without chakra, and the sudden decrease of nature energy. Much of what he'd seen would make sense if it were so.

He shook his head vehemently. He needed to focus on what was right ahead of him.

He'd already found people and they would be waiting for him in the forest. He'd meet up with them and find a way home. Who knows, perhaps they had someone who spoke his tongue?

Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he let his mind drift to other matters. Such as the soldiers themselves.

He'd studied them intently during their short interaction. Their uniforms consisted of white pants and shirts, with brown leather boots and a jacket worn underneath a green-hooded cloak. They had no visible armour to protect against blades or projectiles. Not that it would help them against titans of course, seeing as they could make you a human sized bloody smear on the ground with their bare hands. No, they valued mobility over anything else, which is why their clothes were light and didn't restrict any movement, and those leather belt straps bound to their bodies were probably meant to make their clothes catch as little of the wind as possible during flight.

Considering the thin layer of dust and grime covering their uniforms, they must've riding for a while. Perhaps a day? Maybe two? More if they were able to find places to rest the horses without endangering themselves.

Then there was their strange equipment to consider. Two metal containers fastened to each hip that allowed them to shoot grapple hooks into surfaces, then reel them in somehow. All controlled by peculiar detachable sword hilts.

The most curious thing by far though, had been their reactions when seeing him.

By the looks of astonishment and disbelieving murmuring, he'd assume they hadn't expected to find him, or anyone for that matter. Probably since the area was teeming with titans. He didn't think it warranted such looks of gobsmacked bafflement though, one would've thought they'd never seen a human in their life before.

Popping his neck, he turned to look back towards the forest peeking just over the horizon. It was frustrating, he'd run all the way out here, just to turn and head straight back.

_What a drag._

Leaping off the rooftop, he landed on the wood and rock littered ground just off the house. There were other houses too, all wrecked to some degree. It was a mess, to put it lightly. From the outside it didn't look like much more than a shed, perhaps it had once been enough to shelter a man and his small family, but now it laid in ruin. A portion of the front wall collapsed inwards, likely caused by a titan.

Careful not to tread on any wayward shards of glass sticking up from the ground, he set out in a chakra enhanced sprint through the grassy plains and towards the forest.

The grass rose to his shins and flattened in waves with each gust of wind, only to spring up again as fresh as a bunch of flowers right after. It reminded him of the uniform green of the meadows back home that almost looked combed.

Overhead, a congregation of clouds lit up the blue, each of them sensing the presence of the sun, filtering through brilliant sunshine that caressed him in its warm embrace.

He ran with the wind, feet light and silent except for the light crunching of grass underfoot, until at last, he reached the forest.

There it stood proudly, in all its primitive, oak-brown grandeur. Knotted arms rising ever upwards trying to touch the clouds, almost as thick as a man is tall.

At first it had reminded him of the forest of death in Konoha, but with each passing second, he came to see how little they resembled each other. Yes, the trees were enormous, but that was about where the resemblance ended.

Where the forest of death was a haunting sight that could instil fear in the hearts of anyone who ventured into it, this one was a haven of life and serenity. The forest of death was a macabre place, drab and grey, while this one bloomed with colours. Wild basil grew freely on the clumpy, mossy mattress of the floor. The simpering wind carrying its fragrance. It was spirit refreshing to smell the mulchy mix of the forest's perfume, the scent fresh and organic.

He spotted a turquoise-blue stream that wound its way merrily through the forest, splashing and burbling as it swerved. It jumped for joy over time worn rocks, sparkling like diamonds blessed with inner fire when the sun hit it just right. He'd heard it said once that the streams and rivers were the arteries of the forest, but this stream seemed to have a liquid soul of its own.

He leaped up to one of the branches, landing softly as to not disturb the peaceful silence and looked for any signs of soldiers nearby. He saw none, but that wasn't strange considering the sheer size of the forest, it would take a considerable number of soldiers to cover this entire area.

And was it even wise to approach them so casually?

Perhaps a more subtle approach would be wiser. Gather some information before he revealed himself. They could be hostiles for all he knew, they were soldiers after all.

Silently he leapt upwards from branch to branch until he reached the canopy, and blending with the shadows, started looking for soldiers.

* * *

**[POV SWAP]**

Eld sighed exasperatedly. "Give it a rest, Oluo."

"What? It's true, isn't it? They expect us to find a single person in this huge ass forest. You could hide a titan here and no one would be the wiser!"

"Oh, hush you. Stop whining like a baby and get back to searching." Petra scolded. "-And stop being so noisy, we don't want to alert any titans that might be nearby."

"Besides," Gunther added. "- it's not just some random farmer or civilian we're searching for. The commander said that this might be someone from outside the walls. Someone who can shed light on whether or not there are any other civilizations out there."

"… I still don't believe what they say about him. Jumping from 40 meters high and sustaining no injury? Taking down titans with his bare hands? Yeah right, I'll believe that when pigs start to fly."

"So, you're calling Commander Erwin and Corporal Levi liars then, hm?" Eld said with a smirk.

Instead of replying, Oluo looked up through the uniformly green canopy and into the endlessly blue sky. "Also, if the guy spoke a foreign language, how do we even know he understood to come back here."

Suddenly something darted overhead, disappearing so quickly it made him wonder if he was imagining things.

"Hey, did you guys see that too?" He asked the others, pointing upwards.

"Huh? See what? Did you see something?"

"I didn't see anything."

"Something just flew by overhead, like a shadow, I swear."

Petra mounted her horse, moving ahead of the others. "It was probably just some bird or a squirrel."

"No, it wasn't that, I- Argh! "He jostled his horse to follow, but the horse buckled, making him bite his tongue and cutting him off mid-sentence.

Sighing at his antics, the others followed after Petra.

* * *

**[Naruto POV]**

He released the breath he'd been holding in. That had been a close one. That constipated looking guy had almost found him out. To be honest, he'd never been too skilled at infiltration and information gathering. He was loud and obnoxious, and clumsy at times, according to his friends at least. But being disciple to an expert at the stuff had helped him a lot.

He winced when 'Oruo', let out a strangled scream of pain.

Only a few minutes into searching and he'd stumbled across the four of them riding some distance away. They were searching for something, most likely him, and it had occurred to him to just go up and say hi, but where was the fun in that?

Besides, Kakashi had always told him to think before acting and it didn't take a genius to know that waltzing into a foreign military encampment wasn't a bright idea. So, he'd decided to spy on them, gather some intel and evaluate his next course of action afterwards.

His investigation until now hadn't yielded any vital information, the language barrier making it difficult to learn anything of significance.

Firstly, they were a tight bunch, the atmosphere between them was relaxed and they seemed to be chatting pretty amicably.

'Gunta' was the quiet one, he rarely spoke unless someone asked for his input, and seemed to be a pretty chill person all around. He was of average height with slicked back black hair and a bulbous nose.

The tall and blond one, named 'Eldo', was the appointed leader of their group. He rode ahead, directing the group to their next location, and the others appeared to look to him for orders.

'Oruo' was the complainer. With a permanent frown marring his face that made him look like an old man and hair like a dying plant.

The last one was a petite girl by the name of 'Petora'. Pretty, short, kind-looking, and with auburn hair.

That about summed up what he'd been able to gather so far.

He scowled. _Stupid language-barrier._

No, this wouldn't do. Coming to a quick decision, he smirked mischievously.

* * *

**[POV SWAP]**

*snap*

There it was again! Oluo checked his surroundings for the hundredth time.

"Oluo, listen man, there's no one behind us, there's no one following us. Stop being so paranoid man, it's putting the rest of us on edge." Eld said.

"Tch, whatever." Oluo retorted. He couldn't help it. Every once in a while, he'd hear a twig snap or a bush rustle. Sometimes he even thought he heard footsteps, only to whip his head around and find absolutely nothing there. It was driving him fucking nuts!

The others thought he was being paranoid of course, but it didn't matter, he would show them soon enough. If this was that four-eyed freak Hange's idea of a prank, she had another thing coming.

Subtly gripping his 3DMG handles, he readied himself.

Any moment now…

.

.

*Rustle*

He sprang into action. Leaping off his horse and shooting his cables into the closest tree to the bush where the sound had emanated from, he propelled himself forward in the blink of an eye.

"AHA!" He yelled triumphantly jumping around the bush to find… a squirrel.

His grin fell.

"Oluo! What happened?!"

"You alright?! did you spot a titan?!"

The others were at his side in a flash. Their faces steeled with grim determination, they eyed their surroundings warily, expecting to have to fight for their lives at any moment.

"Oluo! What in the name of Wall Maria-!" Petra poked her head over his shoulder to see what he was glaring at.

An icy chill racked his spine, something hit him over the head, and suddenly his face was getting acquainted with the mud.

Petra glared down at him; fists firmly planted on her hips. "Are you crazy?! We thought a titan was coming to attack us, you nearly gave me a heart attack!"

His mud smeared face rose from the ground to peer up at her. "Petra, listen-"

"No, I don't wanna hear it, Oluo."

Eld sheathed his blades with a frustrated sigh and Gunther stared at him thoroughly unimpressed.

"Come on guys, let's get back to looking." Eld said and they stalked off.

Gritting his teeth, he glared at the squirrel. "You little bastard, if you don't stop following me I'll choke the life out of you, you hear me?" He hissed in a whisper, making sure the others couldn't hear him.

Hands steady, he rose from the mud wiping away all the dirt from his clothes. But just as he turned around to go after the others, he was met by- by blue eyes and blond hair, upside down.

.

.

"Bo!"

"HAAAAAAA!"

* * *

The sudden hysterical scream had made a bolt of dread and fear shoot down their guts. That had definitely been Oluo, no doubt about it. So, they'd rushed back in breakneck speeds, abandoning their horses and no thought spared for excessive gas usage.

The sight that'd greeted them upon arriving had not been what they'd expected, at all.

Instead of finding Oluo fighting for his life against a titan, or even worse, already dead. What had welcomed them was Oluo, still covered in mud, face furiously red as he shook their apparent target by the collar while the blond was laughing his ass off.

"Oluo, what happened! Wait… Is that our target?"

His words were drowned by Oluo's own enraged yells. "YOU LITTLE SHIT, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, HUH?!"

For a second they just watched, then looked to each other equal parts confused and relieved, and unhorsed to approach the two.

"Hey, calm down Oluo, calm down. We need the guy whole man."

With some difficulty Eld and Gunther were able to separate the two before Oluo could cause any harm.

"What happened Oluo, why did you scream, and how come _he's_ here all of a sudden?" Petra asked.

"I- I got up to follow you guys, and when I turn around, this guy's suddenly right in my face! Upside down!"

Eld raised an eyebrow, eyeing the newcomer apprehensively. "So, he scared you?"

"No! He- he just caught me by surprise, that's all!" Oluo defended, slightly red-faced.

The blond guy made an impersonation of Oluo's girlish scream, then went on chuckling while wiping away a mirthful tear from the corner of his eye.

Oluo went stiff as a board, tick mark on his forehead and veins throbbing. His fingers were twitching madly, and his teeth ground so hard Eld was afraid he'd shatter them with pure pressure.

Petra eyed the blond curiously. He didn't look any older than she was, perhaps even a year or two younger, but no more than that surely. His orange and black outfit was a sore sight for eyes, discoloured by dried mud and grime. His eyes were as blue as the sky and hair a mess of golden spikes held up by a headband with a metal piece engraved with a strange symbol… and were those whiskers on his cheeks?

Gunther glanced at Eld. "This is mission accomplished, then?"

"Yeah, I'll fire off the acoustic round."

The shot was fired into the air, a sound almost loud enough to rival cannon fire echoing throughout the forest. All wildlife that may have remained close by fled at that point and the birds flew away in frantic droves.

Naruto's chuckle cut off abruptly and his eyes whipped to the gun held in Eld's hand. His entire demeanour changed in the blink of an eye and his poise went from relaxed and cheerful to guarded and careful, almost making her question if his earlier display of good humour had been real at all. His eyes darted from Eld to Gunther, to Oluo and to herself, and with a start she realized they were all still holding their blades, probably making him anxious.

She sheathed her blades hurriedly and gestured at him placatingly. "It's alright, we don't mean you any harm. See? There's no need to be afraid."

The others also seemed to notice their own weapons and followed her lead, sheathing theirs as well.

"Uhm, I'm guessing you're this 'Naruto' that Erwin told us about. He said to bring you to him if we found you. Please, follow us." Eld said, beckoning for Naruto to follow.

The stranger eyed them all for a second before bobbing his head.

"Hai, ore no namae-wa Naruto desu. Erwin ni au koto ni natte imasu."

* * *

**[POV SWAP]**

*BANG*

"Erwin."

"- I know… It seems like we'll be meeting our guest soon."

* * *

**AN:**

**So, I'm back with another chapter. It's slightly longer than the previous ones and I enjoyed writing it a great deal. **

**At the time of this update, Kabe no Shinobi has reached over 200 followers and 260 favorites, which is amazing. Thank you all for the support and the positive feedback. It's always fun to read what others think of my work and I appreciate it a lot.**

**Some of you guys requested a translation for the Japanese dialogues, so I'll be adding those from now on. **

**~Zenix404~**

* * *

**Translation:**

**Hai, ore no namae-wa Naruto desu. **** Yeah, my name's Naruto.**

**Erwin ni au koto natte imasu. ****I'm supposed to meet Erwin.**


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